The Munchies Blog

Today I tried my first bottle of Innis & Gunn.
I think it is one of the best ales I have ever tried, and urge all of you to try it, assuming you like ale.
Innis & Gunn won the International Beer Competition 2004, and I understand why.
The ale has been aged for 77 days, 30 of these in oak barrels. The oak barrels lend much richness to the flavour, and it reminds me a bit of whisky. Having this taste in an ale with both strong and subtle flavours gives you a very nice experience.

The only thing I do not like about the ale is that I only bought one bottle of it ,)

For those of you who do not speak Swedish, that would be “My Grandmothers Rhubarb Pie” (barbarians ,) ). It is not a pie in the traditional sense with a bottom, but it does have a nice crust. When I made it the rhubarb turned out to have a very nice texture, and a taste which was slightly sour, but not very. Perfect, in my humble opinion ;)

So, let’s get to the good stuff…

Take about 500 gr. of rhubarb,
1 dl sugar,
2 tsp potato flour.
Put the oven to 225 degrees C.

Peel and slice the rhubarb, mix with the sugar and the potato flour and put in the oven for 10-15 minutes.

While the rhubarb are in the oven to pre-cook, it’s time to prepare the crust.

Take 100g butter,
1 dl rolled oats,
0.5 dl sugar,
1.5 dl flour,
0.5 - 1 tsp cardamom (depending on how much you like it).

Mix it all together. When you think the rhubarb are done, crumble the mixture on top of the rhubarbs (using spoons didn’t work for me) and make sure to have an even layer.
Put it all into the oven again until the crust has a nice golden colour. It should take about 10-15 minutes.

Serve with custard or ice cream.

You can of course use different fruit or berries, but you might not have to pre-cook them in that case, and you might have to use a different amount of sugar. I will try it out with raspberries and blueberries soon.

This is my mum’s meatball recipe.

400g of minced meat (I only use beef).
0.75 dl rolled oats.
1-2 tablespoons potato flour.
1.5 dl water (I tend to use 50/50 milk and cream instead :) ).
1 egg.
1 teaspoon salt.
1 small onion.
Black pepper, all spice and a bit of stock powder.

Chop the onion into small pieces and fry them slightly while allowing the liquid and the rolled oats to stand in a bowl.
Mix it all together until it’s a good mixture, and fairly sticky. It’s important to make sure that there’s no lumps of rolled oats, but it tends to get bad if you overwork the mixture as well.
Once the mixture is finished, put cold water on a cutting board and roll small balls. The water keeps the mixture from sticking to the cutting board (and your hands).
Once you think you’ve got enough meatballs, start frying the first pan on medium heat while rolling more balls.

I am shamelessly copying this from my own blog where it is posted already. I think it is tasting good enough to have several mentions ;)

Supposedly serves 6 people. If they aren’t starving.

500 gr. minced meat.
2 cloves of garlic.
2 Onions.
500 gr. potatoes.
500 gr. carrots.
500 gr. leeks.
~200-250 ml cream. More works as well ;)
~200 gr. “Schmelzkäse” (Soft meltable cheese, “mjukost” in Swedish).
~ 750ml Vegetable Stock.

Fry (a big pot is a good place) the minced meat, garlic and onions together while cutting the vegetables in smallish pieces.
Once the meat is done, put it all into a big pot and add the vegetable stock. The stock should not cover the vegetables entirely all the way up.
Put to a simmer for 20 minutes, add the cream and the cheese. Simmer for 5 more minutes, and add spices.
Salt, pepper and various herb spices are recommended.

Serve with a bit of sourdough bread if you feel adventurous.